Words / C / General

circumambulate

verb/ˌsɜːkəmˈæmbjʊleɪt/

C2CEFR level
90/100Rarity: very rare
FormalRegister

To walk all the way around something, often ceremonially.

Pilgrims circumambulate the shrine three times before making their offering.

Similar: encircle, walk around, orbit

Origin: From Latin circum- 'around' + ambulare 'to walk'.

Topic: walking in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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